Furious, the MP retorted: "'I have said everything I am going to say about where I send my son to school."

Born in London to Jamaican immigrants, Miss Abbott read history at Cambridge University before becoming an administration trainee at the Home Office.

She worked as a race relations officer for the national Council for Civil Liberties before moving into the media, joining Thames Television and later TV-am.

She was a press officer at the Greater London Council and Lambeth Council before changing tack and moving into politics.

After a brief stint at Westminster City Council, Miss Abbott was elected into the House of Commons in 1987, becoming the UK’s first black woman MP.

She quickly garnered a reputation as a maverick who was unafraid to speak her mind and could not always be relied upon to toe the party line.

She was outspoken in her condemnation of Tony Blair’s policies on Iraq and tuition fees and was a stern critic of Harriet Harman when she opted to send her children to a grammar school in 1997.

Miss Abbott said at the time: "She made the Labour Party look as if we do one thing and say another."

However, her comments came back to haunt her in 2003, when she took her son out of a state secondary school in Hackney to send him to private school.

Miss Abbott, a single mother, admitted that her decision was “indefensible” but managed to weather the storm.

The MP was investigated by the Committee on Standards and Privileges in 2004 when it emerged she had failed to declare earnings of £17,300 for appearances on The Week. The complaint was upheld and she was forced to apologise to the House.

She was also criticised during the MPs expenses scandal, after claiming £142,000 in 2009, including £1,100 on taxis.

When she joined the 2010 Labour leadership race, many were surprised. But she insisted that at least one candidate should be female and an ethnic minority, saying: “If not now, when? And if not me, who?”

She eventually lost out to Ed Miliband but the contest only served to enhance her public profile.

Miss Abbott was a regular guest on The Week, appearing alongside former Tory MP Michael Portillo, whom she had known since school and with whom she once appeared in a joint school production.

She has also appeared on Have I Got News For You, Celebrity Come Dine With Me and Celebrity Cash in the Attic.